Councils seek partner for green deal roll out | News | Inside Housing

A group of local authorities in north east England is looking for a delivery partner to help it take advantage of the government’s green deal energy efficiency scheme.

Warm Up North, a partnership between Newcastle City Council, Darlington, Durham, Northumberland and South Tyneside, held an ‘awareness day’ on Friday (11 May) for groups that are interested in getting involved.

Warm Up North hopes to improve the energy efficiency of between 10,000 and 15,000 homes within three years when in launches in 2013. It will take advantage of the green deal and energy company obligation to fund the work.

Under the green deal households can get energy efficiency work carried out without paying upfront. They repay the cost of the work using savings on their energy bills.

The £1.3 billion a year ECO fund, which is paid for by energy companies, will be used to subsidise work that would otherwise be too expensive to be carried out under the green deal.

Warm Up North is the five councils’ response to the green deal. It is looking for a delivery partner to run the green deal scheme, which will be paid for by households and landlords. Housing associations and other bodies are expected to get involved in the partnership at a later stage.

David Slater, executive director of environment and regeneration at Newcastle Council, said: ‘Tackling fuel poverty, reducing inequalities and addressing climate change are among the key challenges facing the region. This partnership will help to tackle these.

‘Local authorities will play a key role in coordinating, financing, and providing technical understanding, so that the public can be assured they are not being ripped off.’